REVIEW: Poison by Bridget Zinn

Poison by Bridget Zinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Poison delivered on its promise. It delivered a kickass heroine, a charming love interest, a cute pet pig, and an exciting plot. I devoured the book in less than 3 hours.

+ the characters

Kyra was everything I hope for in a heroine. She was resourceful, quick thinking, resilient, determined, selfless, noble, kind, etc. She deserved all the superlatives. I liked how she didn’t hesitate to kick ass, I liked that she fought smart, and even better I liked that she won most of the times. I liked how she knew when to not fight but hide instead; I liked that she recognized her own limits. I liked how she came to adore her new pet pig, Rose. I liked how she eventually opened her heart to love, to Fred, in spite of the risks and her mission. The book constantly gave me reasons to love Kyra more. I was happy that the entire story was told in her 1st person POV so that I could receive her full awesomeness.

Fred, the love interest, was charming, patient, and best of all nice. I thought YA had ruined me with its bad boy cliche because the few times I encountered good boy love interests I found them boring. I thought boys acting like jerks was the only way they, as love interests, could ever be interesting. Fred proved me wrong, and I was grateful for it. He proved that it was perfectly possible for a love interest to be both nice and interesting. I loved how patient he was with Kyra because Kyra didn’t have the time and couldn’t afford the time for romance. It would have been understandable if he was curt to her, but I was very glad he never was. Fred was seriously and thoroughly a nice boy.

Rose, Kyra’s pet, was cute. She could have easily come off as annoying and a burden, but she didn’t.

+ the plot

Even though there were flashbacks, one of which was particularly long, i.e. the entire chapter two, the pacing moved fast, and it was mainly due to the writing. The writing emphasized action and dialogue and painted imagery only when it was relevant. The plot always moved towards Kyra’s goal.

I did not expect the amount of twists the plot had. Just when I thought the big twist was done and over, the plot pulled a few twists that were no less shocking. The ending pleased me.

+ negligible issues

I did have a few issues with the book, but they were in the way of “this is good, but it could have slightly better.” I wished I learned more about the hermit, Ellie, and how he got into the conspiracy and what ultimately happened to him at the end of the story. It was easy to fill in the blanks but I preferred to know outright. Even though he was a bad guy, he was just so pitiful.

Second issue was about Fred. I wanted to know how Fred got a wolf for a pet and learned how to steal like an experienced thief.

Third issue was about the romance. I’m glad it wasn’t a love triangle, that Fred and Kyra mutually liked each other, and that the other girl was nice and not made out to be evil so she could be easily bumped off. However, I wished Kyra and Fred came together earlier and not at the very last minute. I wished they fought for each other and communicated with each other about how they really felt.

Fourth issue was about the bad guy who was responsible for the main conflict. He was a caricature. The main conflict could have been avoided had the guy been disposed of in the first place when he got captured. In chapter 11, Kyra suggested people can be throw into prison for life for trivial reasons. If not executing him outright, he could have stayed in prison for life. On one hand, I’m glad the justice system had integrity. On the other hand, it seemed too good and simple to be real because what kingdom would willfully release a bad guy who will certainly return for vengeance. Anyway, once all was revealed and Kyra confronted him, he hit on her. WTF.

In Conclusion

I rate Poison 4-stars for I really liked it. The book was fun and exciting. Both the plot and the protagonist were strong. While the book wasn’t without issues, I found them negligible. Frankly, the biggest issue I had was that the book was a standalone. I strongly felt there were more adventures in Kyra’s future to be told.

If you like Poison, I recommend The False Princess, which I rated 4-stars too.

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